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Shakespeare's impact on English
About William Shakespeare William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 - 23 April 1616) was a very influential poet and playwright. He is arguably the greatest English writer of all time with work spanning from great love stories to tragedies to comedies, and he has built the foundation of the modern English language. His plays have been performed all over the World and his works have been translated to all languages. No other English writer is more well known than Shakespeare. His work has inspired many and his writings have been adapted over many years e.g "She's The Man", the movie is based on Twelfth Night. Shakespeare produced most of his greatest work between 1589-1613. Early on when he was still a struggling writer, he focused on comedies like Twelfth Night and based his plays mostly on historical events, for example King Richard III which set the peak standard for that type of writing. Towards the end of 15th century, his plays started to develop into mostly tragedies such as the renowned Macbeth and Hamlet which many people think of as some of the most brilliant English literatury works. He then began to write romances such as The Tempest. These plays helped Shakespeare gain respect from the Victorians at that time. Shakespeare has also written expressive poems and sonnets, one of his most well known being Sonnet 18. Today, all his work has been studied, performed and have helped people get a better understanding of the English Language. Shakespeare's invention and use of words Shakespeare's use of words was unlike anything any other writer. He created many words which have been adapted for modern use today or used just exactly as they had been in Shakepeare's time. Many of the cliches, proverbs, expressions and idioms that we use in everyday speech have originated form Shakespeare. Shakespeares earlier plays were written in a stylized language. He enjoys the frequent use of dramatic metaphors and often in a dialogue, his writing is very ironic like in "Richard III". He often writes soliloquys, strong monologues and asides which intensify his writing. In almost all his plays, Shakespeare has written grand speeches for the main characters at the beginning of the script to set the tone for the rest of the play. He has coined and invented many words and phrases which are still found and used today in the modern English language. He has transformed the English language and influenced vocabulary and the way we write poetry. Shakespeare's influence on the English language is incredibly strong. His writings have contributed to the rules and grammatic rules of English, which were non-existent pre-Shakespearian time. He has expanded our vocabulary with his use of invented words and grammatical writing structures. Shakespeare had the ability to completely invent new words, around 3000 have been recorded to be made up by him. He used a method called neologism and during his early years experimented a lot with blank verse etc. to create words. He has pulled influence from other languages and poets, but in turn, he has lent influences to many famous writers and poets such as Charles Dickens. Examples of words and phrases crated by Shakespeare Phrases coined by Shakespeare 1. All our yesterdays - Macbeth 2. ''All that glitters is not gold - the Merchant of Venice 3. Knock knock! Who's there? - Macbeth 4. Wild Goose Chase - Romeo and Juliet 5. I will wear my heart upon my sleeve - Othello 6.In the twinkling of an eye - The Merchant of Venice Words Shakespeare has invented Insults Shakespeare has invented 1. auspicious 2.laughable 3.generous 4.amazement 5.eventful 6.dwindle 7.exposure 8.apostrophe 9.majestic 10.indistnguishable and the longest word Shakespeare has created... '''honorificabilitudinitatius' Insults Shakespeare has invented 1. You are as a candle, the better burnt out. 2.If the cook help to make the gluttony, you help to make the diseases. 3.Thou goatish pottle-deep canker-blossom! 4.Thou yeasty elf-skinned baggage! 5.Thou saucy flap-mouthed puttock! 6.Thou bootless fat-kidneyed canker-blossom! References http://shakespeare.about.com/od/shakespeareslegacy/a/Common_Phrases.htm Category:Examples of Shakespeare's invented words http://shakespeare.about.com/od/shakespeareslegacy/a/Common_Phrases.htm http://shakespeare.about.com/od/shakespeareslegacy/a/Common_Phrases.htm